Re: Refrigerating your bottles

OK, this is a subject with which I have some expertise. Watch sales at discount stores for the small 1.7 cu. ft. refrigerators. I have purchased them for as low as $59.00. Set them on the lowest setting and change temperature ajustment using a thermometer until you get to approximately 50 to 60 degrees F. Problem solved. Food temperature is a too cold for fragrances. Safe zone is 32 to 40 degrees F. for food. Depending on the unit you buy, annual cost is approximately $27 to $38 per year. You would usually spend more than the price of a small refrigerator on one bottle of fragrance. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." I have four fragrance friges so I have some experience to base my opinions upon.

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

Mine have been in a dedicated fridge for years with no problems at all. I've never had anything go off nor any other issues.
It's set at the highest temp. it will function at and yes, N_Tesla is right on; it'll cost you similar to one bottle of niche or bigger $ designer juice and it's very cheap to run. :-)

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

I does not get that hot inside, but it can get into low 80s upstairs on especially hot days without AC, so I took my full bottles to the office (always 74 F). I only have about a dozen bottles so it was easy to move them.

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

It gets pretty warm in my room and since I do not turn on the AC much, i chose to get a wine cooler to play safe. I have considered using my (food) fridge, but just was not comfortable with the idea of my frags stored beside sauces, packed foods etc, could get a little messy.

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

Originally Posted by N_Tesla

OK, this is a subject with which I have some expertise. Watch sales at discount stores for the small 1.7 cu. ft. refrigerators. I have purchased them for as low as $59.00. Set them on the lowest setting and change temperature ajustment using a thermometer until you get to approximately 50 to 60 degrees F. Problem solved. Food temperature is a too cold for fragrances. Safe zone is 32 to 40 degrees F. for food. Depending on the unit you buy, annual cost is approximately $27 to $38 per year. You would usually spend more than the price of a small refrigerator on one bottle of fragrance. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." I have four fragrance friges so I have some experience to base my opinions upon.

It's good advice, but I just don't have the capacity to get a wine fridge right now...and if I did get one, it'd have to be pretty large...I have around 60 or so bottles.

I guess that's my only option though...hopefully I'll find a good sale!

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

You might check the yard sales in your town. Sometimes perfectly good older refrigerators are available cheap because the owner needs to be rid of it. Also check used appliance stores. I bought a frost free upright freezer once (not for fragrances) for $80.00. The seller wanted $150.00 so I left her my card with the $80.00 offer and she called me the same day. Don't be afraid to negotiate.

Originally Posted by sofresh

It's good advice, but I just don't have the capacity to get a wine fridge right now...and if I did get one, it'd have to be pretty large...I have around 60 or so bottles.

I guess that's my only option though...hopefully I'll find a good sale!

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

I just have them in a frosted glass cabinet in a generally dim room of the house that stays around 74 degrees. I used to have them in the closet (darker, but probably a degree or two warmer), but moved them to a more friendly-to-look-at place. I'm planning on lining the frosted glass parts of the cabinet with dark fabric, but haven't gotten to it. Maybe a window unit AC in that room to keep it a few degrees cooler could be in order - it's my office though, so I'd need pajamas and a sweatshirt to work from home. :P

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

I use an old fridge at 40 degrees F. For my main collection, and rotate them out as desired. I agree with N_Tesla - a big old fridge is the bomb. Use a colder temp if it's an archive, or higher if you use them directly. The nice thing about old fridges is the presence of multiple gadgets and compartments to moderate the cooling for some frags and step it up for others.

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

Last summer the temperature in parts of Melbourne's suburbs hit 47º Celsius, and inside my house got to near 40º C. And every summer, the inside of my house hits 30º quite frequently.

No scents that I have on top of cupboards have ever gone off (though I keep many others inside drawers where they wouldn't have gotten as hot), and I haven't noticed any other Melbourne Basenoters complaining about ruined scents.

So I wouldn't worry about standard designer scents at the temperature of your apartment. I'm not sure about niche scents, because I keep them in a drawer. The only one I've always had out which took the full blast of heat is Etro Vetiver, and that survived fine as well.

I also keep a scent or two in the car, which often hits 50º C when parked out in the summer sun. Never had a scent ruined there either.
Renato

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

Just make sure if you are storing perfumes long-term, that they are not in a frost-free refrigerator. They may be more dehydrating than a normal room environment, and could evaporate your scents more quickly. If that is the only refrigerator that you have, enclose your scent in a reclosable plastic bag and THEN store in a refrigerator.

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

I think you should be fine with the dark cabinet. It will indeed be slightly cooler in there, and if you can keep that in a closet you'll probably have it cooler still. Also no sunlight will hit any scent.

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

Those wine coolers have glass fronts yeah? It gets to suicide-inducing temperatures here (for me anyway, I went to Finland last year in their summer, had to get someone to plead with me not to just stay in the hotel indefinitely, hah!) and I would hate it if my perfumes started to go bad. I had always thought that they'd be cool things that my kids could have when I'm old and cranky. But putting them in the fridge... hmm... the bottles are all so nice looking!

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

We've been using a regular fridge for our frags for years and have no trouble at all. If in doubt, keep them on the door, which is a bit warmer than the rest of the fridge.

Good advice...someone else had mentioned that to me as well.

I think I'm just going to (for the time being) turn the fridge temp up a bit, and throw them all in there. Granted, I read this morning that temperature in Toronto should be cooling down a bit in the coming week, so maybe I won't have to.

I fantasize about one day having my own little Malle-style perfume room with glass fridges and Jean Prouve furniture. I wonder how much Andre Putman charges to decorate...

Re: Refrigerating your bottles

Get a good cheap fridge for the comfort of your frags.

I have a 25 year old bottle of Aramis and 23 year old Halston Z-14, which i have kept in their boxes in wardrobes in averagely the same temperatures as you have indicated. They are still as good as when i got them. Maybe designer scents are just more stable.